Monitoring system for power Generators

[sam001]

i want to work on " Monitoring system for power Generators" as my final year engineering project.
in this project, i will monitor the load voltage/current, and fuel level of generator and will show it on LCD wirelessly by using gsm. And generator will be turned off in severe conditions. I will use PIC micro-controller for this project. KIndly Guide me.

1. Which sensors should i use in this project ?
2. how to turn off generator?
3. how to use gsm for wireless control and monitoring ?
4. how to use controller in this project?
5. any project report on this topic or relevant topic ?
6. schematic diagrams and controller coding ?
7. simulation circuit?

If you help me, i'll highly thankful to you
Thanking you
Sam
Karachi, Pakistan

 

[ark5230]

Books + Google + Supervisor

 

[Vanitar Nordic]

The instructor should give the criteria and requirements for your work. Then you can go and investigate.

 

[tpetar]

Sam what generator is involved, what type, size and rest infos ?

For voltage you can go with voltage divider or small transformer.

Current measuring hall sensor like A1302.

For fuel level, you must describe generator and fuel tank, all from shape, volumen,...

Its possible to count and log produced KW/h, measure temp, log data to eeprom chip,.....

Also current consuption of fuel can be measured by specialized sensors which measure fluid flow.

Check manufacturer recommended way to stop generator or see how they do this. This can be different if generator have electro starter with battery and its on gasoline or diesel. Maybe generator is small sized and dont have battery and electro starter then situation is simple.


Just one remark, be careful and dont play with powered wired near fuel tank, even on low voltage as 3V or 1,5V. In these situations voltage is not counted, only thing what is counted is spark.

 

[sam001]

thanks for the response.
generator will be small sized home generator as i can not afford big one and it wont be electro starter. it would be simple one.
fuel level is to be determined. and also external reservoir of fuel will be attached.
we want to monitor the data on lcd wirelessly and also on mobile phone by gsm.

 

[sam001]

We are two students. We want to make a final year project on monitoring system of power generators
in this project all the data of a remote station generator will be shown on a LCD at some other station for example
our generator is installed at somewhere else and we want to monitor its load voltage, fuel level, temperature etc these all parameters will be shown at our monitoring center wirelessly by LCD and also through SMS.
Switching off the generator in severe cases. As we are not using self generator, so we can use a lamp to indicate the switching on of generator. GSM interface will be used for wireless communication and or project will be based upon microcontroller.
is this project feasible??
kindly reply

 

[tpetar]

Yes this can be done, its ok, but I would ask the following :

- What if GSM network is down?
- What if GSM modem have working problem?

Is there alternative backup solution?

Maybe its usefull to add protection for generator as working hour - cooldown period, and automatic control. Lots od smaller generators need some time for cooldown depending on the load. Also, some kind of electronic soft start for inductive loads, such as hand tools with motors.